A Baker’s Dozen: $30 Chardonnay

Top bottlings for savvy holiday shoppers

A little funky and slightly cheese on the nose which carries with it the aromas of old wood and freshly crushed fruit, picking up nuanced smoke, herb stem and lime aromas as it opens. Bright and fantastically vivid on entry, this is all about tart citrus and apple fruit flavors and a very fine base of dried herbs, flowers and soil tones. Nuanced and complex this elegant offering, dances lightly on the palate with admirable purity and refreshing brightness finishing with an earthy cast to the fresh citrus and pineapple flavors. Subtle and pure. 92pts

Spicy and cool on the nose with subtle nutty oak notes joining fresh citrus and golden apple fruit on the nose. Moderately large scaled in the mouth but at the same time nicely nervy with fine integrated acidity that is probably higher than one thinks though it is so nicely buffered by the fruit. A hint of creaminess develops with air, making this both soft and bright in the mouth with flavors of key lime pie and bitter apples that makes this particularly food friendly. The finish recalls the nose with a lovely spice aromatic quality. This is rather elegant consider how big it is and offers impressively pure and precise flavors marked by well judged oak. 92pts

Tight on the nose and a bit youthfully grapy with fine oak framing notes and a core of lime pith and heirloom apple fruits. Tight and focused in the mouth, there’s a touch of wood spice sweetness here supporting fine, ripe apple and creamy almost peachy flavors. The texture really opens up on the mid-palate where this gains richness and power as well as a light mineral note that drives the long finish. Attractive with spiced apple flavors and subtle oak layered over the mineral notes on the long vanilla tinged finish. Elegant and rich. 92pts

Barrel fermented aromas greet the nose along with creamy, nutty, buttery, pineapple aromas and sweet toasted spice notes. Surprisingly open and fresh in the mouth with clean crisp apple fruit early on the palate then turning a bit riper with a little nectarine on the mid-palate. The nose shows much more oak and buttery character than the palate which is clean, lighter than the 14.1% would suggest finishing with good energy and real finesse. This is rather long and focused. 91pts

Very fine on the nose showing subtle oak influence under a layer of fine, bright fruit, that is fresh and lemony with a little flinty mineral aspect. The palate mimics the mouth with zesty citrus laced crisp apple flavors and a fine edge fof minerality. Really just perfectly ripe fruit that has great acid cut on the palate and real energy in the mouth. it’s a touch simple perhaps, picking up dusty mineral earth on the back palate before leading into a long lime fruited and attractive oak accented finish. Really lovely balance here. 91 pts

Tight and earthy on the nose with faint aromas of pear fruit grounded by a base of soil tones with smoky, leesy, floral accents. Showing lovely integration in the mouth, there’s subtle oak imprint here adding nuance to the slightly creamy and yet fresh fruit. Showing off apple and unripe pineapple flavors framed with gentle suggestions of green herbs and lime zest, this flows across the palate with gentle ease finishing with fine energy and some mouth grabbing tannins. Gentle and very honest feeling, this is a wine that relies on savory flavors as much as the fruit with not that much winemaking in evidence. 91pts

Scorpio, in the United States, anything labeled "Late Harvest" (either red or white) is going to be sweet.

If you live in the U.S. south, look for Muscadine wine. Muscadine is an indigenous grape variety that is made into both red and white wines--there's probably a rose out there, also. This will be confusing, but my understanding is that some wineries make dry versions of Muscadine. So, I guess you have to experiment. I live in the west and had never seen Muscadine on store shelves, but I was in North Carolina this weekend and had nice examples of red and white.

I've never had it, but I'm pretty sure that Moscato, which seems to be on every store shelf these days, is sweet.